WASHINGTON – Based on new legislation, importers are required to determine no producers in their supply chains in any foreign country are employing North Korean nationals as forced laborers to produce goods imported into the US.

US Customs and Border Protection has initiated inquiries to enforce this new legislation and reportedly has the authority to detain shipments for admissibility.

Goods made with North Korean labor are banned effective Sept. 21, 2017, with the burden of proof on importers to prove either no North Korean nationals were used in the production of the detained goods or, if North Koreans were used, they were not forced to labor.

The new requirement was included in the recently enacted Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act. While CAATSA primarily involved changes to economic sanctions against Iran, Russia, and North Korea, it also contained a provision that prohibits the importation into the US of goods produced in whole or in part by North Korean nationals employed anywhere in the world.